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Instructions for Authors
(Updated Oct 17, 2019)
Contents
A. Recommendations and Guidelines
II. Proposing and Submitting a Serial Report
VI. Guidance for Correcting Errors
I. Types of Serial Reports
A. Recommendations and Guidelines. Recommendations contain technical documents such as guidelines and standards on all areas in China CDC’s scope of responsibility.
B. Surveillance Summaries. Surveillance Summaries provide a means for China CDC programs to disseminate surveillance findings and permit detailed interpretation of trends and patterns based on those findings.
C. Supplements. Supplements present information that does not easily conform to the format or content of Recommendations and Guidelines or Surveillance Summaries, such as compilations of historic events or accomplishments and reports or proceedings from national conferences.
II. Proposing and Submitting a Serial Report
A. Acceptance: When a program is planning a Serial report, it should submit a brief proposal (less than 300 words) outlining the purpose of the report, methods, findings, and conclusions to the Serial Team Lead. Upon receipt of the proposal, the Serial Team Lead and Deputy Editor will review the proposal and arrange a conference call to discuss the proposal and determine if the report is appropriate for Serial. If the report is deemed acceptable, a submission date will be established.
B. Submission: All reports must be submitted through ScholarOne-Weekly Manuscripts. Included in the submission should be documentation of clearance (See Section IV) and signed Conflict of Interest (COI) forms for each author. Once clearance is confirmed, COI forms are reviewed, and the text and supporting documents are determined to be in the appropriate format (See Section V), the report is assigned to a project editor and the production process begins. Serial reports typically require 12-16 weeks from the time it is assigned to a projected editor until the report is published.
C. Publication date: Publication dates are typically determined after review of the first draft during the production process. At the program’s request, we will set a publication date prior to submission. However, maintaining publication date is dependent on the report being submitted at the time agreed upon by CCDC Weekly and the author.
III. Authorship
Criteria for Serial authors are as follows:
A. Serial Report's attribution policy follows guidance from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html). Authorship credit should be based on three conditions, all of which must be met: 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the report or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published.
B. All authors must assume responsibility for the published version of the manuscript. Authors should be able to defend their contribution independently. Collectively, authors should be able to defend the design, execution, and conclusions of the report.
C. Persons will not be listed as authors merely by virtue of their position in an organization or by attendance at a meeting. Similarly, participation solely in the acquisition of funding, the collection of data, or general supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship.
D. Persons or groups that reviewed a submission for a clearance process or who suggested revisions or limited changes to a submission will not be listed as authors.
E. An acknowledgments section may be used to recognize the work of persons who made substantial contributions to the project but who do not meet the CCDC Weekly author criteria.
F. The list of authors follows the title. First and last names and middle initials (optional) should be used and the single highest academic degree (masters or above) should follow the names. The organizational affiliation will be footnoted below the list of authors. Contact information should be provided for the corresponding author.
G. The order of authorship should be a joint decision of the coauthors. CCDC Weekly recognizes that scientific work is a collaboration and collaborators have a responsibility to define, accept, and fulfill their roles. Serial recommends that author order be discussed early during a collaboration and revised as needed as the work progresses. Authorship order, including choice of first author, should be based on the level of contribution to the report and the work underlying it. The first author will have responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole from inception to publication. First authors also are responsible for providing leadership in determining order of the other coauthors, establishing writing assignments, providing direction for reviews and revisions, and compiling drafts. The first author should ensure an open forum for coauthors to share their concerns and suggestions and should ensure that all ethical considerations have been addressed.
IV. Clearance
The clearance of the CCDC Weekly’s manuscript is in the form of internal clearance and peer review.
A. Internal clearance
According to the standards of the CCDC Weekly, manuscripts summited by China CDC’s authors or corresponding authors will be considered internal manuscripts. Before submitting to ScholarOne-Weekly, an internal clearance process of the original department/center is required to review and confirm the scientific rigor and compliance of the manuscript. Having the English reviewed by native-English speakers is appreciated.
The external manuscript is submitted to the corresponding department/center of China CDC for clearance according to its specific content.
B. Peer-review
After internal clearance, the manuscript is submitted to the ScholarOne-Weekly review system. The executive editor (EE) organizes the senior scientific editing (SSE) team to discuss and deal with the manuscript weekly. The scientific editor (SE) selects reviewers, relies on the system database and the self-established expert base to peer-review the manuscript and communicate with the author for any revisions.
Then the SSE performs a second review of scientific rigor and compliance, and after the professional English editorial review, submits the manuscript to the chief editor or executive deputy editor for final review. If needed, a review meeting of the editorial board will be held to discuss the decision.
V. Submission
A. Formats Text. Text should be submitted in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, in Times Roman font and in 11 or 12 point. There is no word limit for Serial reports. Because China CDC is the corporate author and stands behind every report, use of first person (I, we, our) is not permitted.
B. Tables. Tables should be created in Word table function or in Excel. Contributors should study tables in previous reports for style. Tables cannot have tabs or extra spaces within the cells. Tables should be sent in separate files and not embedded in text. For tables listing epidemiologic data by geographic division (e.g., province, locality, city), Serial prefers to publish table data sorted by performance.
C. Figures. Figures should be created in (not pasted into) Adobe Illustrator, PowerPoint, Excel or (in the case of maps) vector format files (such as .ai, .eps, and .wmf). Bar graphs or line graphs should have underlying data tables. Place keys/legends within the figure. Figures should be submitted in separate files and not embedded in text.
D. Footnotes. For footnotes, do not submit with the endnotes function of MS Word engaged. Use the following footnote symbols in order of appearance: *, †, §, ¶, **,††, §§, ¶¶, etc. All others are superscripted.
E. Summaries and Abstracts. A summary (maximum 275 words) is required for Recommendations, Surveillance Summaries and Supplements. A structured abstract (i.e., Problem/Condition, Reporting Period, Description of System, Results, Interpretation, and Public Health Action) is required for Surveillance Summaries.
F. Method (Recommendations and Surveillance Summaries). All China CDC guidelines should provide a methods section that transparently discusses the following:
§ How do the guidelines add to or differ from what was available previously?
§ Who was involved in the production of the guidelines and how?
§ What information base was considered?
Ø What was the rationale for considering this evidence base?
Ø What potential information bases were not consulted?
Ø How does the information considered support or relate to the conclusions or recommendations?
G. References. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation. References should be cited according to instructions contained in The Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Reference numbers must be cited in the text in parentheses, not superscripted. All citations included in the reference list must be cited at least once in numerical order in the text only. Abbreviate names of journals according to the list of journals in PubMed (available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). For authors, list up to six authors and/or editors; if more than six, list the first three followed by “et al.” Reference numbers must be manually inserted in the text, not linked to an endnote function or reference manager software. There is no limit on the number of references used in any Serial report unless established prior to submission.
VI. Guidance for Correcting Errors
Correction of errors preserves the integrity of scientific and public health literature. They also protect the reputations of the authors, the Serial, and China CDC by demonstrating commitment to ensuring accurate science.
A. Errors Related to Small Portions of Text, Figures, or Tables. Requests to publish corrections should be sent to the project editor. An Erratum will be published in the Weekly as soon as possible following notification about the error.
B. Pervasive Errors Throughout the Text, Figures, or Tables. If pervasive errors are brought to the attention of authors or Serial editors, it is our obligation to transparently correct the literature. After reviewing the nature and source of the errors for each case, Serial will assess the report in collaboration with the China CDC center/department and other China CDC leadership, as indicated. In cases of suspected scientific misconduct, the Editorial Committee will determine the appropriate corrective action. In cases of inadvertent, pervasive errors, the Editor-in-Chief will determine the appropriate method for correcting the report based on current scientific publication guidance. Below are the most likely paths for correcting inadvertent, pervasive errors.
1. For reports that have pervasive errors but the corrections do not change the conclusions or interpretation of the report, Serial will correct the literature through the mechanism of “Correct and Republish.” Serial will follow National Library of Medicine guidance to ensure transparency and clarity for readers.
2. For reports that have pervasive errors that change the interpretation or the conclusions when corrected, Serial will correct the literature through the mechanism of “Retraction.” In collaboration with authors, Serial will determine whether it is appropriate to also republish the report at the time of retraction. Serial will follow National Library of Medicine guidance to ensure transparency and clarity for readers.
VII. Contact Information
E-mail: weekly@chinacdc.cn
Telephone: +86-10-63150501, 63150701
Mailing address: No.155 Changbai Road, Changping District, Beijing, China, 102206